Tag: The Flaming Lips
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The plan here was to post the pic of all the bands and just name a handful of ones that us here at Concert Confessions are fans of and stuff like that. Then, as I kept reading into the poster containing the lineup for the 2014 Riot Fest in Chicago, this thing just has so much one would want to check out. Your top billing is The Cure, Jane’s Addiction, The National, Rise Against and Weezer while The Flaming Lips, Social Distortion, Slayer,The Offspring and Staten Island’s very own Wu-Tang Clan rounding out your ten highest billed performers. Dig deeper into the lineup and you’ll find Pussy Riot, ThurstonMoore, Kurt Vile. You’ll also run into Failure and The Dandy Warhols. The Afghan Whigs are back, and you guessed it, they’re here too. My new favorite heroes(i.e. Dave Grohl/Safe Music) Mastodon is at this party as well. Feel free to have some fun too, throw a little Cheap Trick in your day. Things you don’t see here: Outkast, Lorde, Kanye West, Vampire Weekend, Skrillex and all those other garbage festival junkies you see on every card. Lots of music with guitars here.

Highlighted acts below, check out RiotFest.ORG for ticketing details and all that jazz.

If at any point you were under the impression that this festival fever is a game, then you were sadly mistaken. Next up on a big week for festival announcements is the Hangout Music Festival, which takes place on a beach in Alabama. The headliners are solid and include The Black Keys coming out of hiding alongside The Killers and Outkast.

Other notables include Queens Of The Stone Age (who should be headlining ALL these festivals with their stellar work in 2013),Modest Mouse, The Avett Brothers, Tagan and Sara Pretty Lights, Childish Gambino, The Flaming Lips, STS9, Jack Johnson (wouldn’t be a beach if Jack Johnson wasn’t there), Reignwolf, Andrew W.K. and many many more.

For ticketing information head over to HangoutMusicFest.com. Start planning your mid May trips to the deep south now.

Performances like these are the reason why David Letterman isn’t rumored to be replaced by anybody. Wednesday evening, The Flaming Lips stopped by the Ed Sullivan Theater and got totally weird. Wayne cradling the baby in his arms says it all… They performed “The Terror”, and you can check that performance out below:

Returning to Brooklyn taking place in Prospect Park May 17th through the 19th will be The Great GoogaMooga Festival. And the price is right: the Saturday and Sunday of this event can easily cost you Zero dollars if you choose to register between April 1st and 3rd with winners being selected on April 10th. You get to rock out to acts like The Darkness, The Flaming Lips, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Sharon Van Etten, Matt & Kim and many many more. There’s a good chance pending selection that this very writer may get himself over there to see some of that sweet action. For acts, prices, times and all that jazz that’s not mentioned on the above flyer, you can head over to the Official Festival Website here.

Here we go folks, another day another festival announcement. The 2013 version of the Beale Street Music Festival released its lineup this morning. Taking place at Tom Lee Park during the Memphis In May International Festival May 3rd through the 5th. Serving as your headliners are The Black Keys,Alice In Chains, The Flaming Lips and The Smashing Pumpkins, ZZ Top, Deftones, Patti Smith, Gary Clark Jr., The Joy Formidable, Heartless Bastards, AWOLNATION, Cracker and The Wallflowers round out the list of acts this writer would want to check out. Other acts you may be into: Phoenix, Bassnector, SherylCrow, Lucero, Hall & Oates, The Roots and Public Enemy to name a few. The full list of acts are below, and for tickets (which are very reasonably priced compared to other festivals across the country) and other information head to the festival’s Official Website By Clicking Here.

Not sure if we mentioned it before, but tis the season to announce festival lineups. This time lets head to the land of the grapevine that is Napa Valley for what is dubbed Bottle Rock Festival. Cork-Fest must not have had as much of a ring to it as I thought it did. This one is interesting because, well, one might ask why the Kings Of Leon would be the lead headliner along with The Black Keys and Furthur. Furthur? Come on man. I like the Grateful Dead as much as the next guy but The Flaming Lips, Jane’s Addiction and Primus are sitting on this same list of acts playing. Bad Religion could close this thing out playing songs only off True North.

It all goes down May 9th through 12th. If you’re having trouble reading the text in the above poster never fear, some loser went through the trouble of actually typing out every single band listed there-and that lays below. As usual, it’s always best to head over to the festival’s official website if you feel like partying with the Zac Brown Band,- do that by clicking here.

No need to check your calender, it is not April Fools Day. Today is however that magical day when The Black Keys and The Flaming Lips announce four shows they’ll play TOGETHER this Spring. No word on whether they’ll alternate headlining slots or will they do what the Flaming Lips did with Weezer in 2011 when both bands set gear up onstage and each band would play three songs at a time before switching it up. Either way, this is TOO freaking cool, if you’re in one of these towns please go see this. Dates lay below. I found the picture at this message board called Consequence Of Sound. Props.

When the Heritage Hunter tour was announced, I knew I had to go. Opeth was the band on the tour that I was the least familiar with, and upon fully immersing myself in their challenging brand of progressive metal, I knew I’d be in for a fantastic show. Combining light, almost beautiful song structures with the louder, heavier sounds of common heavy metal (and a touch of dry, awkward humor from frontman Mikael Akerfeldt in between songs) the Swedes managed to put on a show that was set right in front of an amazing Atlanta sunset.

9. Umphrey’s McGee

With great jamming comes some great responsibility. Umphrey’s McGee are a jam band known for ridiculous song covers, odd stage presence, great lights, and insane guitar playing. Keep in mind, all this comes from six dudes who look like they could be working at a Best Buy or Target, and call themselves “Umphrey’s McGee.” They’re a cult act, no doubt, and this 2 AM – 6 AM concert at Bonnaroo showed that their fans will go where they go. I only stuck around for the first half of the show (I left right around the time Big Gigantic played their guest spot) but I got what I wanted. I got a “Bulls on Parade” tease, a “Stranglehold” tease, and some of the most intense jamming I’ve heard from any band. It was a rock and roll set, without a doubt, and it was one of the best rock and roll sets I’m sure Bonnaroo has ever seen.

8. Mastodon

The headlining act of the aforementioned Heritage Hunter tour is a force to be reckoned with. Mastodon is a band that is exactly what the name implies: A big hairy beast that could crush a thousand men with the stomp of its foot. They played mostly new material from their stellar 2011 album “The Hunter” during the hometown gig and barely addressed the audience, but the concert was full of the sheer force that the Atlanta boys are known for. The facial hair on these guys alone should be enough to make the average man cower in fear. I would’ve liked to hear more from “Crack the Skye,” but it’s hard to complain when you’re witnessing one of the most brutal sludge/doom/weird metal bands of the past decade play songs in front of you.

7. Dispatch

Dispatch make catchy summer music and Bonnaroo is a festival built for specifically that. After nearly a decade long break from touring and releasing new material, the jam/roots rock band with a massive cult following has returned to rock the faces off frat boys who graduated from Dave Matthews Band University. The trio are phenomenal instrumentalists and write a great catchy tune. Although I couldn’t see the whole show, I saw enough to know that Dispatch’s music translates very very well to a live setting, especially when you’ve got a bigger crowd then one would expect from a band with literally no mainstream help.

6. Flogging Molly

Celtic punk isn’t for the critics, and neither is Flogging Molly. Nothing about Flogging Molly is very original, but it is a lot of fun. The sand that lined the floor was in the air and in my lungs by the time these guys finished their high-energy set. This set included their most well-known song “Seven Deadly Sins” as well as a Bob Dylan cover. Flogging Molly didn’t show up to promote any new music, but they did have a blast, as did I and the many other people who witnessed them perform.

5. St. Vincent

Anyone who knows me knows about my year-long crush on Annie Clark, the brains behind St. Vincent. And when I finally got to witness her perform music live in front of my eyes, I was not at all disappointed. Everything about this performance was everything I could’ve wanted from a St. Vincent show and more. She played mostly songs from her amazing 3rd album Strange Mercy, but threw in a couple songs from her first two albums. The set was full of energy, as well as beauty and intensity. And the way she plays that guitar… I could go on forever about how great of a musician this woman is. Bottom line is, you need to see her live if you want a great show.

4. Childish Gambino

Anyone who knows me knows about my man crush on Donald Glover, a standup comedian, writer, actor on the greatest comedy on television “Community,” and rapper. The rapper part of this complicated equation, Childish Gambino, put on a monster of a set at Bonnaroo. He walked on stage with what I can only refer to as “swagger,” wearing a black tanktop that was purposely a bit too big. He led the audience through energetic versions of “Bonfire,” “Freaks and Geeks,” “Heartbeat,” “You See Me,” and plenty more that just turned into sing-a-longs, for lack of a better word. It’s the only real hip hop show I’ve ever been to, and it was a fantastic experience. Gambino isn’t the world’s greatest rapper, but he certainly knows how to handle himself on stage.

3. Radiohead

Radiohead release some of the most beloved music of the past 15 years. Almost every other album they put out is hailed as a classic: OK Computer, Kid A, In Rainbows, etc.; and if they aren’t hailed as a classic they’re almost always lauded by critics and fans alike. The reception for their most recent release, 2011’s The King of Limbs, wasn’t as positive as it was for some of their other albums, but it still gets better with each listen. Radiohead’s 2006 Bonnaroo performance is often hailed as one of their best, and they without a doubt topped that performance with their 2012 Bonnaroo performance. Although half the set was songs from In Rainbows and The King of Limbs, the 25-song set was one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen. They ended the first encore with Everything In Its Right Place and the second encore with Paranoid Android, two of their most incredible and ambitious works. And not only did they play with energy and emotion, but the lights and the screen display was one of the best of all time. Up there with Phish and Pink Floyd. Speaking of Phish…

2. Phish

I saw Phish twice this year. And from the very first song at Bonnaroo (Down With Disease) I knew that I was witnessing what might be the best touring band in America. The jamming is top-notch and the lights display is astonishing, especially since a good portion of the show is improvised. At Bonnaroo they brought out country music legend Kenny Rogers and performed his hit “The Gambler” with him, which proved to me that Phish can do a great cover. I also got to hear them perform their cover of TV On the Radio’s “Golden Age” the first time (I heard it again in Atlanta). Also in Atlanta I heard their cover of Ween’s “Roses Are Free” which was perhaps a tribute to the newly split group and they encored with a cover of The Beatles’ “A Day In the Life,” which would have made John Lennon proud. They’re not a band you’d expect to put on a great live performance since they hardly move from their spots while they play, but somehow they are able to reach these incredible crescendos that create this cloud of energy. Both shows I saw were amazing, and they’re a band you must see live at some point.

1. Flaming Lips

Has anyone ever seen Flaming Lips and been disappointed? Even if you’re not a big fan of their music the way they perform and the amount of effort they put into making the live experience perfect should earn them some respect. Lights, balloons, streamers, strings, explosions; all of this and more were a part of Flaming Lips’ Saturday night performance in Atlanta. They played some of their stranger songs like “See the Leaves” and “Pompeii am Götterdämmerung” as well as their more accessible hits like “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Part 1” and “the Yeah Yeah Yeah Song.” They ended their beautiful and powerful live show with the all-out emotion-fest that is “Do You Realize??” which is probably their best song. It’s full of thought-provoking lyrics and is so powerful when performed live that it almost brought happy tears to my eyes. If you’ve lived this long without seeing Flaming Lips live, then I feel a bit of pity for you. But Flaming Lips tour very very often when they’re not busy paying tribute to King Crimson or Pink Floyd on record. So go out and see them. I did, and I have no complaints whatsoever. They’re the best band I saw this year, and probably the best band I’ve ever seen.

The above poster pretty much tells you all you need to know. The Flaming Lips are hosting a free show at the Oklahoma City Zoo Amphitheatre on October 26th. If you live in the midwest, one must assume that this is something you won’t want to miss.

So Neil Young‘s annual Bridge School Benefit(Oct. 20-21 at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View) has announced it’s lineup via a Youtube video. Performing will be of course Neil Young & Crazy Horse along with Jack White, The Flaming Lips, Steve Martin and the Sleep Canyon Rangers, Gary Clark Jr., Sarah Mclachlin, Foster The People, k.d. Lang and, oh yeah, the band currently touring under the moniker of Guns N Roses????

That’s right folks, Axl Rose and Co. are one of the bands that pop up in the video revealing the lineup. All of the terms in the dictionary that describe charitable givings, caring for other people, being a decent person-none of these qualities describe Axl Rose. So how the hell this all came about is beyond any of us here at Concert Confessions (except Reverend Justito) . It just doesn’t make sense. Anyway, check out the video below, and if it’s bogus then the world is more terrible than I thought it was.

I present you with my 2012 LouFest photo gallery. This was one of my favorite smaller festivals I have attended and I look forward to what the future LouFest’s will bring now that they seem to be coming into their own in their third year. Enjoy the pictures in this gallery as much as I enjoyed shooting them and go listen to some of these great bands (I highly suggest Little Barrie)

Stephen Colbert sure as hell knows how to close out a week of cool performances, and that was with The Flaming Lips last night which ended the run of shows dubbed “StePhest Colbchella” 2012. As has been all week, there was an interview and a performance aired, with two web exclusives. If you want an indication of how cool this is, this writer called a cab to a Burger chain that shall remain nameless just to use their free internet connection to bring this to you. And because I was hungry. Anyway, below you can view the interview with Wayne Coyne, who is even more spaced out aboard the Intrepid, then performances of “Ashes In The Air”, “Do You Realize?”, and “Drug Chart”.

On tonight’s edition of The Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert announced to the world the return of his long running, one year old, week long celebration of music, the Colbchella concert series. For last years StePhest Colbchella ‘011: Rock You Like a Thirst-IcanePresented by Dr. Pepper, we were given performances by Bon Iver, Florence and the Machine and Talib Kweli with Yasiin Bey (A.K.A. Mos Def) in addition to an in depth interview with Jack White and other surprises such as Colbert debuting the follow-up to his ‘smash hit’ “Charlene (I’m Right Behind You)”, titled “Charlene II (I’m Over You)” featuring Third Man Records artist The Black Belles as his backing band.

Filming will take place Friday August 10th at 7pm aboard the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York and will be shown the week of August 13 on Comedy Central. You can get all the details and info on how to obtain your free tickets at www.colbertnation.com

Sadly we were unable to make it out to Delaware for the Inaugural Firefly Music Festival. However that won’t prevent us from sharing highlights from some of our favorite artists including The Flaming Lips, Cake, Modest Mouse and GROUPLOVE. Check them out down below.

So two days in a row we’ve got ourselves cool bands doing record breaking tours. The Flaming Lips today announced they’ve mapped out the itinerary of their attempt to break the Guinness World Record of most concerts in one day, 8.

They kick things off down south, in Memphis, Tennessee June 27th @ 7:30 ET and plan to end in New Orleans exactly 24 hours later. Between that they’ll hit 5 cities in Mississippi and one in Baton Rouge.

The Flaming Lips are always supported by cool folks. No exceptions here: Grace Potter and the Nocturnals,Gary Clark Jr, Neon Indian and Grimes

Tickets are on sale June 7th… Reports are that all 24 hours will also be webcast live online as part of MTV’s O Music Awards. Seems odd, to webcast all 24 hours. That tape gonna be rolling on the tour bus? Man this band only get’s cooler. All the dates,Show set times Venues and who’s opening where are down below:

PARTY IN THE PARK feat. Flaming Lips w/ Young the Giant and AWOLNATION

Words by Jakob Ross, Videos by Jakob and Scott Ross

5/19/12

Throughout the past decade or so, one band has been singled out as the greatest live band of all time. Not Foo Fighters, not Rolling Stones, and not Cage the Elephant; I’m talking about The Flaming Lips.

The psychedelic/indie-space group who hail from Oklahoma have built up a reputation as a must-see band, either at festivals or at their own headlining gigs.

You’re probably thinking: “Jakob, they can’t possibly be that great. I mean, it’s not like the singer has giant hands that shoot lasers at a disco ball or anything.”

You stand corrected.

Anyway, before I get into how over-the-top amazing Flaming Lips were, let me backtrack a few hours.

Driving to Atlanta was hellish. Due to two straight hours of traffic on I-20, we were forced to miss the first two bands of the radio-sponsored festival, Atlanta-natives Ponderosa and LA-based folk band Dawes, the latter of which I was actually excited about. And to make matters worse, we weren’t allowed to bring our backpack into the park (my dad and I planned on dressing up as Captain America and Jesus, respectively, and our costumes were in that backpack). All setbacks aside, we were ready to kick it with three great bands.

We made our way towards the front of the pit as the stage was being set for AWOLNATION, the solo-sideproject of former Under the Influence of Giants frontman Aaron Bruno. Not being very familiar with AWOLNATION’s body of work (a.k.a. their 2011 debut) I’m not quite sure what songs they played or what order they were played in. I can tell you that Aaron Bruno is a great frontman.

It’s not an AWOLNATION show without hearing their first hit Sail and their most recent hit Not Your Fault, both of which were a part of the setlist. But what was the biggest surprise for me was hearing the breakdown of Rage Against the Machine’s debut album-closer Freedom somehow make it into the setlist. It was unexpected and for all I know I was the only person who actually knew the song, but it was still a very cool addition.

Despite having to deal with annoying crowd-surfers (seriously, crowd-surfing is the most annoying concert tradition, and I invite all of you who find joy in it to stop doing it), it was a fantastic show from Aaron and co.

Next up would be alternative rock group Young the Giant, whom I would be seeing for the second time. The first time I saw them was from the top of an arena, but this time I would be up close and personal with YTG. Although they’ve just come off a European tour and a North American tour that featured GROUPLOVE, Young the Giant showed no signs of fatigue whatsoever. They played a great set with songs that seemed chilled out at first, but would then climax into an energetic explosion. (Notice singer Sameer Gadhia’s A Clockwork Orange shirt.)

It was obvious that most of the crowd (including myself) was only familiar with their songs Cough Syrup and the set-closing My Body, but that didn’t stop us from being wowed by Young the Giant. Even the new songs they played (their new album is expected to be released in Spring 2013) sounded pretty cool.

At around 8:15, Young the Giant left the stage to cheering applause and screaming guitar feedback, leaving exactly one hour for all the crewmen and women to set up the stage for the Flaming Lips.

Despite little-to-no mainstream success, the Grammy-winning Flaming Lips have developed a cult-like status and a strong fan-base. And the music’s not bad either: be it their 1993 major-label smash Transmissions from the Satellite Heart, their 1998 masterpiece and cult-favorite The Soft Bulletin, their 2002 sci-fi inspired concept album Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, or their daring tribute to Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon; the music is just awesome.

And all of the above albums were played to some extent during the show. From the first notes of Sweet Leaf to the final moments of Do You Realize??, every member of the band was at the top of their game. At the beginning, a video screen depicted a women giving birth to the members of the band (each band member except for lead singer Wayne Coyne came out of a door on the screen to signify childbirth) and an object was removed to reveal Coyne in his now very recognizable bubble that he gets inside to walk on the audience.

Lights. Colors. Balloons. Confetti. Bubbles. Music. Distortion. Feedback. The Lips just absolutely killed in every way, shape, and form. And that’s an understatement. It was perfect, magical, phenomenal, emotional, a religious experience. They played every song you hoped they would play, including Brain Damage/Eclipse, the last two songs on Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, with indie-pop group Phantogram.

If you’ve never seen this band before, then I feel bad for you. No YouTube video could ever capture the magic of a Flaming Lips show.

Flaming Lips Setlist:
Sweet Leaf (Black Sabbath cover)
Worm Mountain
She Don’t Use Jelly
The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song
Is David Bowie Dying??
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Part 1
See the Leaves
Pompeii Am Gotterdammerung
What is the Light?
The Observer

This years lineup is topped with one of the most energetic live bands out there, a band that makes every show a party… and a band that somehow seems to always “get permission” from the local police to allow marijuana smoking at their shows during just one song… The Flaming Lips! Also at the top of the bill is Gregg Gillis, better known to most by his stage name, Girl Talk. The 3rd installment of LouFest will also feature performances from alt rock legends, Dinosaur Jr as well as alt-country band Son Volt featuring Jay Farrar, former Uncle Tupelo band mate of Jeff Tweedy. Other bands featured are rockers Dr Dog, indie rock favorites Dawes and the recently reunited Cotton Mather. My favorite band on the lineup based solely on their name is definitely Springfield, MO’s Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, with St. Louis’ Sleepy Kitty a distant 2nd.

The Flaming Lips

The grassroots festival takes place in the heart of St. Louis at the Central Field at Forest Park on August 25-26, 2012. The premise for LouFest is to book a few solid headliners, and then give the remaining spots to emerging local and touring artists, and some of your favorite established artists (See: Dinosaur Jr) LouFest will feature music spread out over 2 days and 3 stages, as well as retail, food and beverages (both adult and all ages), and best of all the festival features a massive Go Green effort with recycling, compost stations, free valet bike parking, and refillable water stations. This is also a family friendly festival, and kids 10 and under get in free with a ticket holding guardian! You even get in and out privileges, so if you want to spend a chunk of one day at the amazingly awesome St. Louis Zoo located in the same park, go right ahead!

Early Bird tickets are available now and will run you $60 for a 2 Day Pass. As the event approaches, the cost will go up to $70 or you can buy single day tickets for $40 at a later date…. pick up your tickets now!!!

Inaugural River’s Edge Music Festival Set To Rock St. Paul This Summer

Another day, another festival. This one is in Minnesota where we hear they have lots of mosquitoes. Personally we prefer mojitos but hey sometimes you need to sacrifice a lil blood to enjoy the likes of Dave Matthews Band and Tool.

Also appearing at the two day River’s Edge Music Festival on Harriet Island in scenic Saint Paul Minnesota over the weekend of June 23rd and 24th will be The Flaming Lips, Puscifer, Coheed and Cambria, Brand New, Delta Spirit, Mutemath, Dilpo, Polica, Gardens & Villa, Scissor Sisters, Kinky, Civil Twilight, Mexican Institute of Sound, Motion City Soundtrack, Kids These Days, K-flay, An Horse, and Yuna.

It is our understanding that two day passes will set you back $99 and will go on sale via Live Nation on April 10th.

Editors Note: This is The 2012 Lineup. For the 2013 Lineup, Click Here

Firefly Music Festival To Be Held In Delaware

Delaware, welcome to the world of States that have sweet Music Festivals.

The news broke last night, that the three day ’Firefly Music Festival’, will be headlined by The Killers, The Black Keys and Jack White . Solid, right? I mean, sure The Killers aren’t in the stratosphere of musical relevance circa 2012 as the The Black Keys and Jack White are; but hey, they could have went with the Beach Boys, so we’ll chalk up those headliners as a win.

The ’2nd tier’ if you will, of headliners consists of The Flaming Lips (what AREN’T the Flaming Lips doing these days?), Death Cab For Cutie, John Legend, Girl Talk and Passion Pit(cancelled as a result of mental health issues).Modest Mouse, a late edition to the festivities, announced on June 25th they’d be in Dover as well that weekend.

Dubbed the “East Coast’s Premier Music Experience”, will kick off July 20th at Woodlands of Dover International Speedway in Delaware and end July 22nd with 3 day passes going for a modest $178 (as of 6/28, 3-Day passes have been sold out), at the Festival’s official website. The rest of the listed acts are below.

Update 05/08/12 – The Firefly Website now shows an image similar to the gang Hangman. While they promise a full lineup tomorrow 05/09/12 we have done some detective work and believe this festival is adding the following artists.

Atlanta Announces Initial Lineup For The New “Party In The Park” Festival

As you may or may not know, I’m living in Georgia now. I hate it here so much, but thankfully ATL has its perks, including a new festival that was just announced. Party in the Park is a one day show that will feature The Flaming Lips, Young the Giant, Awolnation, and Dawes. It’s unclear whether more bands will be announced.

The show will take place Saturday May 19 at Olympic Centennial Park in Atlanta. Tickets go on sale March 24 and are rumored to be priced at $25 a piece. For more information, visit this website.

As 2011 reaches a close, we take a look back at the year in concerts. In volume, I probably attend the least amount of total shows per year if you pool all of the contributors here at Concert Confessions. But never the less, by years end I will have reached 23 concerts, eclipsing last years total of 20. My only personal goal is to always get out to more shows then the year before. We did that in 2011, and here’s hoping we crack a bigger mark in 2012. Back to the reminiscing, here’s the Top Ten Jay Porks Exerperience’s of 2011

It was a cold night in February. I remember it like it was yesterday-it was the day before I was to get my Blackberry, and I remember the whole night being pissed about how if I would’ve gotten a new phone earlier that day I’d leave here tonight with better quality photos. Speaking of photos, the Reverend Justito was able to go through channels and gain me a photo pass for the first 3 songs of their set. It was at this time that I would stand about an arms distance from the late Cory Smoot/Flatimis Maximus while getting soaked in GWAR fluids, which would later add some difficulty to hailing a cab after the show-being that it looked like I was covered in blood. Awesome times [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXrJ0Kw6d_Y&w=480&h=360]

I know what your all thinking-How the hell does he throw Hip Hop into his Top Ten? Well, a week or so prior to Joe Budden replying to a Tweet of mine setting off a back and forth which gained me a collective middle finger from his fan base, he played with Slaughterhouse at SOB’s. This is the show that made me buy the tickets to see the man solo at Irving Plaza, and even though that was terrible, I can’t deny what Budden, Royce Da 5’9′, ‘Joell Ortiz’ and ‘Crooked I’ did to the stage at SOB’s that night. And that was setting it on fire. Also, one of the openers ‘Emilio Rojas’, I promise you will headline shows in 2012. He sounded like the future.

8)Chris Cornell @ Town Hall(4/13/11)
With a Soundgarden full on reunion tour not yet confirmed, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see Mr. Chris Cornell on his Solo Acoustic Songbook Tour. The hair is back, and in full Jesus mode Cornell blessed us with hits from Soundgarden, Audioslave, his own solo catalog and mixed in a Beatles cover along with a, brace yourselves, acoustic cover of Ghostland Observatory’s “Sad Sad City”.

Overlooking the balcony on the 3rd floor of Terminal 5 for an epic night of events. If it wasn’t enough that I was seeing Dinosaur Jr., we had Keith Morris in the building with his latest band. OFF!. In addition to that we had the critical acclaimed “Fucked Up”. And the frosting for the cake, Henry Freakin’ Rollins interviewed Dinosaur Jr on stage before their set, an interview I captured in it’s entirety and it up on YouTube. Also got most of their set, they had great lighting and my spot was of epic proportions. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5n0mEa2r_hM&w=480&h=360]

6)Local H Mercury Lounge (4/21/11)
Local H is one of those bands that will probably always find there way on my year end best list if they come around to my neck of the woods, and that’s just what happened. Not only that, but they were booked for an “Early show” at the Mercury Lounge-which means doors at 7PM and show was to end promptly at 9:30. No problem for Scott Lucas and Brian St. Clair, who kicked out about 20 jams in the time they had on stage, including 2 songs from a forthcoming Local H record: “Cold Matter” and “Another February”(which I have video of below this paragraph). Covered ‘Joey’ by Concrete Blonde and “Wolf Like Me” courtesy of TV on the Radio. During Wolf Like Me, Scott came off stage with his guitar and played, like, into the camera was recording with and eventually was jamming out leaning against me as people snapped photos of him in the crowd. What Mercury Lounge is great for in not having security so I can tape, they suck at lights-and there is no conclusive proof of this on video. At least my buddy who I met into at the Lemonheads show says he remembers me from the crowd and remembers seeing that happen. Got an autograph from Mr. Lucas after the show and gave it to my friend Pam, who was defeated by New York City traffic trying to make it there. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sXiip0fN78&w=480&h=360]

5)Flaming Lips&Weezer Get Freaky On The Same Stage PNC (7/28/11)
So when I saw the show listed on Ticketmaster it was billed “Weezer/Flaming Lips” yet when my ticket arrived in the mail it said “Flaming Lips/Weezer”. I figured at the least I save myself time seeing some crap opener, as I like both these bands. As the show drew near, it was announced that the bands would both set their gear up on stage, and take turns playing songs back and forth. Now isn’t this interesting? And it turned out to be even way more fun then I imagined. With limited time, sort of, Weezer wasn’t able to squeeze into their set a bunch of songs I hate. Plus they kicked off the night both bands on stage playing Black Sabbath’s “Sweat Leaf” with Wayne Coyne and Rivers Cuomo floating the pit area in space bubbles. After 2 hours of back and forth hits from both bands, they shared the stage again to play “She Don’t Use Jelly” followed by “Undone(The Sweater Song)” before going off. Awesomeness. I was still giddy as I wrote the review on a plane flying off to Washington State-that’s a hint for things to come on this list. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0d2iws3WKGc&w=480&h=360]

The Meat Puppets returned to New York City for the first time in 2 years to play Le Poisson Rouge. They would play 2 nights later in Teaneck, NJ at Mexicali Live with me in attendance as well. It’s a tie because on both nights they would equally scorch the stage they played frying hearts and minds-yet it was two totally different experiences for me despite the set list not varying much. Night one in NYC I got backstage, and was able to hang with the boys before the show and even got to meet Sean Yseult (bass player who started a little band called White Zombie with dude named Rob), who was nothing less then a bad ass chick-I mean that in the awesome sense. But after all that it ended up I couldn’t get a good spot up front and had to extend my arm up full length when recording songs(the good news being I don’t have to hide my camera from anyone, being the Social Media Assistant for the band I am actually permitted and encouraged to do so).

Two nights later I meet up with Pam in Teaneck, NJ-a little hidden spot of Northern New Jersey I never even knew existed. My intentions on this night are to finally show off my favorite band still touring to one of my good friends- [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yeJftK_l5Q&w=480&h=360]
one of the few friends I have in real life who’s musical taste I respect. She’s never seen them, and this was to be my 9th time. Check this out, you know that band Black Box Revelation that’s been blowing up by the show? Yea, they opened up this one before they set off w/ Beady Eye on tour a week or so later. They were awesome. And my great spot for video during this Meat Puppets set as oppose to they Friday night set is not even comparable. I got everything I needed to get and more. About halfway during set Pam says to me “This drummer is amazing”. That drummer is Shandon Sahm (son of Doug Sahm, I’m gonna let you use Wikipedia for this one), and for the nights encore as it would have been Doug Sahm’s 70th Birthday day, we saw Curt Kirkwood relinquish his guitar to Shandon and took a seat at the drum kit. They then played “She’s About A Mover”, a Sir Douglas Quintet cover with Curt on drums and Shandon Sahm singing and playing guitar. Got Curt to autograph Pam’s ticket after the show. Freaking amazing weekend of the Meat Puppets, hence my tie for 3rd/4th place. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTZw1SJbg4g&w=480&h=360]

2)Ween Hammerstein Ballroom: Halloween 2011
For a second year in a row through circumstances beyond their control, Ween fall one spot short of the top spot on my best shows of 2011 list. It was Halloween, it was WEEN at Hammerstein Ballroom in the city. We tore the seated section 103 apart, stacking chairs creating a standing room frenzy. They did another “Evening w/ Ween” which includes no opening acts-and played for the better part of three hours dressed up for Halloween in skimpy sailor outfits. It was amazing, and even through picking up the pieces of my face on the way out the door-the number one spot had already been locked in. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn820V9WMhw&w=480&h=360]

Remember when I said I was writing the Flaming Lips/Weezer review on a plane heading to Washington State? Yea well, that was one insane weekend. With tour guides TheNaturalStoner and Mr. Sparkly taking care of me, we were off on Saturday July 30th of 2011 to the Gorge Amphitheater to see Soundgarden, Queens of the Stone Age, Mastodon, and THE MEAT PUPPETS. This was before any Meat Puppets dates were locked for NYC so I had to make sure I caught them right? Plus opening for Soundgarden?!? A band I’ve been waiting to see for years and years. And sandwich in Queens of the Stone Age, which I missed out on a presale from their NYC show in March and how can we think this could get any better? Well, it got better as soon as we were at the top of the grassy hill looking down at the stage camped so behind it is the beautiful Columbia River and mountainside. 18,000 people get in this place, standing room exclusive. If it wasn’t enough that I got to see the Meat Puppets for the 7th time that night, I also got to see Soundgarden close out strong. And while Queens of the Stone Age kicked out songs I love, like “Go With The Flow” & “No One Knows” ,with the sun setting and beams of light bouncing off the river and silhouetting the people on the lawn.. man that 8-10 minutes right there may have been the greatest moment of my life(well, besides Jen Cartiglia). We had from what I counted 5 of us Concert Confessioners in attendance- Myself, TheNaturalStoner & Mr. Sparkly in one tent trying to get texts through to Phishbeard to meet up with us, while at the same time we tried to gain WiFi to find Jakob. The whole Washington experience blew me away, and the show being that epic wasn’t hurting matters either. Camped out afterward sleeping on a folding chair using a sleeping bag as a blanket starring up at the stars, which I can actually see in a state without the air pollution that New York City contains. Woke everyone around us camping up early due to my phone’s alarm clock still being on east coast time. The video I share below is not one that I shot, but shot by TheNaturalStoner. Since I was standing right next to him anyway, and his camera is way better then mine, here you go: [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iou9tnsHt6w&w=640&h=360]

Honorable Mentions!!

I seriously wanted to put Charlie Sheen’s Violent Torpedo of Truth tour in here, but I didn’t want to take the crap from all the trolls out there who DIDN’T attend…But damn that was a pretty freaking epic night, awesome times with friends.. hence it’s honorable mention.

-Phish, Night 1 of their MSG New Years Eve run was pretty funky as well, had this list not been done before I attended the show on 12/28/11, it would have been up for nomination

Over the weekend of August 5th and 6th, the inaugural Kanrocksas Music Festival took place at the Kansas Motor Speedway in Kansas City, KS. Ryan Richardson, a friend of Reverend Justito was kind enough to share some photos of the event with us.

Better a few days late than never, The 52nd edition of the Jay Porks Never Ending Concert Series takes us back to the PNC Bank Arts Center in Homdel, NJ-the very same place we were 7 days ago, only tonight we’re here for The Flaming Lips & Weezer to put on a set in which they are sharing the bill. By sharing the bill, I mean I read that both bands will be setting their gear up on stage at the same time and each band will take turns playing a handful of songs. Read a quote that Rivers Cuomo asked Wayne Coyne if he has an extra bubble he can ride around in. Now this is something different. It refreshing to see bands trying new things, I wonder who’s going to encore? Will they play songs together? This has the makings for an eventful few hours. Having said that-lets not count our chickens before they hatch, doors open at 7:30PM and Yeasayer are the first openers. Planning an earlier arrival than last week, which means two things: Not gonna miss any of the sets we planned to see and two, most time to get wasted. And I tend to let the criticism fly more loosely when intoxicated, and I have a feeling these New Jersey folk are gonna get to me tonight after last week.. We shall see….

We pulled into the parking lot around 6, not pulling any punches today-lets not miss anything in case they decide to go on early….We parked in a lot that wasn’t miles away from the venue, so we were able to camp out til about 8 or so, when we headed in right after Yeasayer had finished. Grabbed our lawn spot (rented chairs for $5 a pop, why stand all night?). I notice the stage is already being set up, and its not far past 8…

Wayne Coyne comes out, and explains to the crowd how this is the first time they’ve done a show like this.. he tells us “Rivers needs you guys to help him out with the bubble when he gets in it”.. and Wayne also mentioned that “if our strobe lights are little too intense for anyone-then just don’t look at them. Simple solution”… then he said they’d be back as he ducked off stage for a little while….

So around 8:30-8:45 we have The Flaming Lips intro, where they come out of the big screen and walk down the ramp as two bubble inflate with Wayne Coyne in one and Rivers Cuomo in the other one. Smoke filling the stage, graphics hitting the screen. This is cool. Wayne and Rivers take to the crowd in their bubbles, and it doesn’t take Rivers long to fall down and have to be rolled back towards the stage by the crowd he’s rolling on.. then he busted out of if and The Flaming Lips jumped in three songs Worm Mountain , Silver Trembling Hands and Yeah Yeah Yeah Song… – At one point Wayne sat on a gorilla’s shoulders … they do those three songs and he says “Alright we’ll be back-Weezer everybody!”

Weezer comes out and kicks things off with “Hashpipe”, “El Scorcho” and “Perfect Situation”.. Whoa, what is this did Weezer finally get the memo to start playing their good songs live? Awesome. Girl I’m with turns to me and says “Oh I know this song from the Deftones” during “El Scorcho”.. I said “Really?” and returning home upon YouTube search, the Deftones do cover it… sweet. After Perfect Situation, they head off for the Flaming Lips to come back on..

Out comes Wayne and Co. again, this time to rock it out harder with “Is David Bowie Dying?”, “See the Leaves” and then we got into a little Laser Hands Jam, where the Gigantic hands come on.. lights bouncing off the disco ball thing into the lawn.. damn I wish I had a good enough camera to tape that shit.. And the Flaming Lips also have a whole bunch of chicks in outfits resembling Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz bouncing up and down.. awesomeness

So back out comes Weezer, and they play “My Name is Jonas”, “Suzanne” and one of my personal favs of the Weezer catalog “The Good Life”… Again, I’m still amazed at the fact that Weezer is playing good songs-this is like the set I’ve always wanted to see when I saw Weezer headline a show.. now for 25 bucks I’m on a lawn chair enjoying all those hits I thought I’d enjoy on days I spent 50+ dollars to see them. So far this was a great investment.
Now back to the Flaming Lips, as we seem to be grooving to 3 songs a clip before switching… As if this night couldn’t improve, it’s “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Part 1” time. Yes! Love that freaking song, and the half filled PNC Bank Arts Center loved it too.. can’t believe more people weren’t at this show.. “Ego’s Last Stand” and “Pompeii Am Gotterdammerung” followed… as we shift back to the Weezer.

Island in the Sun.. it’s becoming redundant.. can’t believe I’m at the one good Weezer set to come to the tri state area… “You Gave Your Love to Me Softly” (B-Side from ‘El Scorcho’) followed. Then Rivers says “ Here’s a song we used to listen to when we were growing up, then jumps into a cover Radiohead’s Paranoid Android.. I didn’t like it when I first heard it watching the vid on YouTube but experiencing it live actually made it quite enjoyable.. one of the more listenable Radiohead songs of the past decade of so.. and apparently the 14 year old kids that surround us everywhere are loving the Radiohead. I’m on board..

Then the Flaming Lips came out for “What is the Light?” and “The Observer”.. I noticed Wayne has had a cool looking fur scarf on for the duration of the show.. Is he not the man?

back out for ‘Pork and Beans’, ‘Tired of Sex’, and ‘Say it ain’t so’.. So I guess Weezer is closing out this show-especially afterward when they played “(If your wondering if I want you to) I want you to”. They were trading off three for three, now Flaming Lips did two and Weezer did four?

So then the Flaming Lips come back out for “Do You Realize”…with full confetti and lights going I said to myself: Okay, so the Flaming Lips are closing this show…

That’s when Weezer came back out (stop confusing me guys!) for “Buddy Holly” and “Only In Dreams”.. which was making me think we’ve witnessed a Flaming Lips set minus “She Don’t Use Jelly”.. but Weezer stayed on stage as the Flaming Lips came back on to play it with them-Weezer and The Flaming Lips doing “She Don’t Use Jelly” with Rivers singing lyrics on the 2nd and 3rd verses. Awesomeness. And then “Undone- The Sweater Song” with both bands remaining on stage was a perfect end to a very cool evening. The Jay Porks Pre-Flight extravaganza

. Perfect send off to Washington! The Gorge Saturday: Soundgarden, Meat Puppets, Queens of the Stone Age and Mastodon.. the Willie Nelson on Sunday.. let the insanity begin!

Sunday morning started off much like Saturday, with a whiskey and coke. We battled wind the night before and made it through unscathed, but Sunday night would be an entirely different beast. The shows Sunday were great, possibly the best day musically, but the aftermath was about as lame as it gets. Read on….

We had a tough decision to make in the afternoon, and it was unfortunate, but we decided to stay in the campground, rest-up (much needed!) and then prefunk of course, instead of checking out Reggie Watts in the comedy stage early in the day. The sound issues the day before for the Trailer Park Boys had an affect on this decision as well, as did not wanting to pay $9 for beers all night.

Cold War Kids was the first act we were able to see, and they were decent. They had a pretty perfect time slot for them, before the big three Sunday night, and had many of the crowd on their feet. They played the one song of theirs I know, Hang Me Up to Dry, so that is all I really needed. A decent, fun little set. After the Kids we saw a couple Das Racist and Archers of Loaf tunes on the side stages, on our way to get ready for Flogging Mollys set to really kick off the night.

I just want to say that I thought Flogging Molly was amazing. We started the set up on the hill which we quickly discovered was a bad decision. Instead, we made our way down to the floor to get much closer to the action. Upon running into our Calgary campground neighbor friends, we watched the rest of the set with big grins on our faces. Not even when I was informed puke was running on my bag, which I have on video (check it out!), did I have a bad time. This set was one of the more fun ones with a rowdy crowd adding to the show. Once the set was over we decided to get a little closer on the floor for the next act, one I was pumped for, The Flaming Lips.

Wayne Coyne and company are a bunch of weirdos! The backdrop videos and the face camera and all the antics are just bizarre, but I like em! The Gorge got one of the Lips’ “Soft Bulletin” shows, and also a fun rendition of Happy Birthday for the 10th Anniversary of the Festival. A birthday cake made from the TV crew Ace of Cakes was brought our during the song, but it didn’t take long for Wayne to break it apart and throw it into the crowd. The only problem is this was all done mid set, a seemingly very odd placement. Wayne talks a lot too, and I left this set thinking that if Wayne would just shut up and play we could’ve seen a few more songs. A nice tribute to Elliott Smith brought the tears out of Wayne, and a few in the crowd (Phishbeard!! Hahaha). They ended the show with Feeling Yourself Disintegrate.

After the Lips we were in for what I think could be the single best set of the weekend, at least for me. I loved the Foo Fighters and J. Mascis sets, and Chromeo is a major ‘Best of’ contender, but to me Modest Mouse made me feel different from the others. I had EXPECTED to have a good time at the Foo, Chromeo etc. I had ZERO expectations for Modest Mouse and they were one of the few bands over the weekend that turned me into a fan. Opening with Shit Luck was a treat and after that we were in store for almost 2 hours of great. I remember This Devils Workday, Here it Comes, Bukowski, Lampshades on Fire (new song I think) and more all being top notch. Like I said, I was waiting for a band all weekend to turn me into a fan and this is the best example of that.

I left Modest Mouse feeling great. It can take awhile to get from the venue to the campground, so we were able to feel great for about an hour before we got back “home” and saw the damage. Some complete fucking asshole(s?) decided to vandalize or area of the campground, breaking into cars and tents and causing all kinds of damage. Phishbeards tent was cut open and his cooler dumped out inside. Others around us had their ipods and cell phones stolen, among other things. Why some dicks want to ruin the times of others at something as fun as Sasquatch! is something that I will never understand.

We still had some post show beers, but the party certainly wasn’t the same as the couple of nights before.

One last day of fun awaits.

Random Notes:

Flogging Molly > The Flaming Lips > Modest Mouse was one of the funnest 1-2-3 combos I have seen.

Really bummed about missing Reggie Watts, sigh.

Lots of people were talking about how good the smaller stage acts were. Some I heard were great but missed were MSTRKRFT, Yeasayer, Flying Lotus, Ratatat, Sam Roberts Band.

Not very much hiphop here at this fest, but Das Racist was pretty sweet!

It’s hard to believe that out of over 100 bands performing at this years Sasquatch! Music Festival at the Gorge Amphitheatre, I have only seen two. I go to a lot of concerts, and like a lot of these bands, so it’s really freaking odd to me that I have only seen the Old 97’s (at an old Bumbershoot Festival in Seattle, approx. 10 years ago) and Sharon Jones, although I didn’t see her with the Dap-Kings, only as a backup performer to Phish at their legendary Festival 8. With that said there are some amazing acts this year, and as always, Sasquatch! is plum full of up and coming bands we will all love in 2-3 years. This preview will look at my favorite acts I am looking forward to, and why. There are lots of different reasons that these bands appear on this list, and after the Festival I am sure some of my favorite sets from the event won’t be any of these listed, but these are the top bands I am most looking forward to seeing perform live (ALL for the first time!).

10. Flogging Molly: While “celtic punk rock” isn’t my favorite genre, it certainly jumps up big on the list after a few cold beers. So Sunday night’s Flogging Molly set on the Main Stage at the Gorge should be epic (so should The Flaming Lips and Modest Mouse to follow on the Main Stage-what a way to start the night!).

9. Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings: As mentioned above, I have seen Sharon Jones once before, backing up Phish at the Empire Polo Grounds in Indio. This will be a nice treat seeing her with her own band. Sharons throwback funk/soul sound gets me going every time and her voice is amazing.

8. The Decembrists: I will admit, an ex-girlfriend got me into this band. Usually the kiss of death, but I have always kind of liked their sound (their 2011 album The King is Dead is a lot of fun) and these guys will be great at the Gorge.

7. Chromeo: When the initial Sasquatch! lineup was announced, I asked concertconfessions own Rev. Justito to give me some names of bands to check out that I might not be familiar with. I’m pretty sure Chromeo was on his list because they made it onto my iPod, but after a couple listens it really wasn’t for me. However, I decided to give their recent Coachella Festival webcast a chance, and after watching the ENTIRE set, this Prince-meets-Devo funky pop band is something I am really excited about seeing. I can only imagine the dance party that awaits.

6. Modest Mouse: The great Northwests own Modest Mouse, returning to Sasquatch! for a night for the ages. Sunday nights headliner is a band that I like (not love), but maybe that will change as this will be my first Modest Mouse show. I have heard their concerts can be hit or miss, especially these days, but I have to think the Sunday night magic of Sasquatch! will leave the Gorge Amphitheatre in awe.

5. Bassnectar: Dubstep, a genre I am a total noob about, is intriguing to me. And Bassnectar is one of the best blowing up right now. After hearing about the legendary glow stick wars (that supposedly put my band Phish’s to shame) and seeing some YouTube clips, I have a sneaking suspicion that this late night set could be one of the best of the entire Festival.

4. Iron & Wine: Another ex-girlfriend introduction for me, but I thank her greatly for it. Iron & Wine (traditionally a one man band, but I have heard he sometimes tours with a group) is one of my favorite mellow “rock” acts. The Main State of the Gorge will be a perfect setting for a Saturday night dusk time set and the new album is super, so the tunes should be great.

3. J. Mascis: The front man for legendary alternative band Dinosaur Jr. will be at Sasquatch! performing a solo set. J.’s past solo performances are great and his latest all-acoustic album “Several Shades of Why” is fantastic. This will be a small side stage act not to be missed! I think I just pee’d my pants a little thinking about it.

2. The Flaming Lips: Not sure how I have not seen this band before, but am SUPER excited for this set. The Lips will be performing their 1999 epic “The Soft Bulletin” in its entirety, plus other additional songs to follow. I’ve been told a Flaming Lips show can be life changing, so Sunday May 29th may be my last “normal” day as thenaturalstoner.

1. Foo Fighters: The first band announced for this years Festival is the one I am looking forward to the most. Nirvana was always my favorite band growing up, and to have the opportunity to see Dave Grohl and Pat Smear play together will rock my mind and soul. Nirvana Bassist Krist Novoselic performed on the Foos new album “Wasting Light” (as did Huskur Du’s own Bob Mould, also at the Sasquatch! Fest), so who knows, maybe a Nirvana reunion will rock Central Washington in May. Regardless, this is one set I have been looking forward to for months on end. I had the chance to see the Foos only one other time, also at the Gorge with Kool Keith and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and some mishaps along the way caused me to miss the show. That will NOT happen this time.

Things I am pissed about: J. Mascis and Chromeo only scheduled for 45 minutes; The Decemberists, Iron and Wine and Bassnectar only scheduled for an hour; Macklemore & Ryan Lewis/Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings scheduling conflict.

So that’s my list. The best part about Festivals, especially 4 day long ones, is that your list will differ greatly from mine. I can’t wait to check these bands out (plus 90 others!) and report back on who was amazing and who failed to live up to expectations. George, Washington, here we come!!!

For those who can’t make it – NPR will be broadcasting live from the festival all weekend long.